Gizmorama - October 19, 2015

Good Morning,

Today's issue is exciting! That's because we're dealing with stories about atoms, energy, and supercoiled DNA. Well, I'm excited! Excited for science!

Come on, Atomic vanity: Mirror prolongs life of artificial atoms, and Images of supercoiled DNA show complex, dynamic structure - that sounds amazing, right?

Learn about this and more interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*-- Atomic vanity: Mirror prolongs life of artificial atoms --*
GOTHENBURG, Sweden - The "lifetime" of an atom is the length of time it takes for an excited atom -- one infused with energy -- to lose its newfound energy, to return to its normal state.

Recently, researchers at Sweden's Chalmers University of Technology were able to prolong the lifetime of an artificial atom by placing it in front of a mirror.

As detailed in the journal Nature Physics, the experimental atom held its charge for up to ten times as long when placed in front of a mirror at varying distances.

"We demonstrated how we can control the lifetime of the atom in a very simple way," lead resaercher Per Delsing, a physicist at Chalmers, explained in a press release. "We can vary the lifetime of the atom by changing the distance between the atom and the mirror."

"If we place the atom at a certain distance from the mirror the atom's lifetime is extended by such a length that we are not even able to observe the atom," Delsing added. "Consequently, we can hide the atom in front of a mirror."

If that sounds confusing, the experiment gets stranger.

The experimental atom is not actually an atom at all, but a superconducting circuit created on a small silicon chip. The circuit acts just like an atom, emitting microwaves when excited with an electric charge. What's more, the mirror is not a mirror, but a electric circuit designed to replicate the presence of a mirror.

"Atoms 'die' because they return to their original ground state -- it sees very small variations in the electromagnetic field known as vacuum fluctuations," said researcher Goran Johansson, a quantum physicist at Chalmers.

The mirror image of the excited atom alters these fluctuations and thus changes the atomic resonance frequency of artificial atom's nucleus. This process prolongs the atom's lifetime.

Researchers say the findings are significant outside of theoretical physics because they prove the potential for manipulation of vacuum fluctuations.

"Engineering vacuum fluctuations is therefore becoming increasingly important to emerging technologies," researchers write in their new study.


*-- Images of supercoiled DNA show complex, dynamic structure --*
LEEDS, England - Everyone knows the double helix, the iconic double-stranded molecules of DNA, but new research suggests the image is a simplified approximation.

In reality, supercoiled DNA is much more complex and dynamic.

Using high-tech microscopy, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, in Texas, captured high-resolution 3-D images of supercoiled DNA. The images were analyzed by scientists at the University of Leeds, in England.

Instead of zooming in on the DNA, scientists took a wide-angle view. The new perspective revealed a varied and complex design. More than just a twisting double-helix, researchers found a whole range of dynamic shapes and structures -- figure eights, handcuffs, circles, pretzel twists.

That DNA would take on a variety of complex twists, turns and coils isn't all that surprising. A complete DNA set comprises 3 billion base pairs. Stretched to full length, a DNA sequence measures more than 39 inches. To fit inside the nucleus of a cell, it has to bunch and coil itself in dramatic fashion.

Researchers didn't attempt to look at all 3 billion pairs, just a few hundred. Still, the grander view revealed DNA's propensity for dynamic design.

"When Watson and Crick described the DNA double helix, they were looking at a tiny part of a real genome, only about one turn of the double helix," Sarah Harris, a researcher at Leeds' School of Physics and Astronomy, said in a press release. "This is about 12 DNA 'base pairs,' which are the building blocks of DNA that form the rungs of the helical ladder."

"Our study looks at DNA on a somewhat grander scale -- several hundreds of base pairs -- and even this relatively modest increase in size reveals a whole new richness in the behavior of the DNA molecule," Harris added.

Harris and her colleagues detailed their findings in a new paper, published online this week in the journal Nature Communications.

The researchers hope that by better understanding DNA structure inside cells, they can improve the computer models that design medicine -- like new antibiotics or chemotherapies.

"This is because the action of drug molecules relies on them recognising a specific molecular shape -- much like a key fits a particular lock," Harris said. "We are sure that supercomputers will play an increasingly important role in drug design. We are trying to do a puzzle with millions of pieces, and they all keep changing shape."

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